William & Mary Law School, located in Williamsburg, Virginia, is the oldest law school in the United States still in operation. William & Mary Law School is a part of the College of William & Mary, the second oldest college in the United States.[1] The Law School maintains an enrollment of about 650 students seeking the juris doctor, the fundamental legal degree in the United States today. Admission to the Law School is highly selective and the faculty is well regarded, according to Brian Leiter's law school rankings.

U.S. News ranks William & Mary Law School as a Top 10 public university law school and Top 25 overall. U.S. News ranked W&M Law as the 29th overall in their latest 2016 rankings of the nation's law schools.[2] For the Class of 2017, the median undergraduate GPA was 3.79 and the median LSAT score was 163.[3] William and Mary's bar passage rate for Virginia for the July 2014 exam was 84.38%, ranking fourth amongst Virginia's eight law schools.

As a public university, William & Mary charges relatively low tuition compared to many other top law schools. Among public law schools, it is the ninth-highest ranked public university law program in the survey conducted by U.S. News & World Report (the undergraduate institution is the highest ranked small public university, according to a similar survey by the same periodical).

W. Taylor Reveley III, formerly managing partner of the law firm of Hunton & Williams, was dean of the Law School until he was promoted to President of the College itself in the spring of 2009. Davison Douglas (J.D., Ph.D., M.Phil., M.A., M.A.R.), a nationally renowned legal historian, is the current dean. [4]

The former chancellor of William & Mary, Sandra Day O'Connor, delivered commencement remarks to the graduating class of the Law School in 2006, 2008 and 2010.[5]

The growth of the Law School was halted abruptly by the beginning of the American Civil War. The start of military campaigns on the Virginia Peninsula compelled the College to close its doors. It would be another sixty years before the historical priority in law could be revived in a modern program that is now nearly ninety years old.

After William & Mary Law School was reopened early in the twentieth century, it was moved around the main campus of the College to several different buildings in succession. In 1980, the School was moved to its current location on the outskirts of Colonial Williamsburg, a short distance from the main campus. The building has been renovated several times since 1980, with the addition of a new wing of classrooms and renovation of older classrooms in 2000, the overhaul of the Henry C. Wolf Law Library, and the construction of a new admission suite.

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at William & Mary for the 2014-2015 academic year is $46,950 for Virginia residents and $55,950 for non-residents.[6] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years, based on data from the 2013-2014 academic year, is $181,746 for residents; the estimated cost for non-residents is $210,696.[7]

According to William & Mary's official 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 56.2% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required, non-school funded employment nine months after graduation.[8]

William & Mary's Law School Transparency under-employment score is 12.9%, indicating the percentage of the Class of 2013 unemployed, pursuing an additional degree, or working in a non-professional, short-term, or part-time job nine months after graduation, and an additional 19.8% of the class was in school-funded jobs.[9]

The annual Supreme Court Preview of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law brings courtwatching journalists and academics together for a lively analysis of key cases on the Court's docket for the new term. The Preview provides in-depth education for journalists on the underlying constitutional issues involved in the cases.

Lewis Burwell Puller, Jr. Veteran's Benefit Clinic provides students (under the supervision of staff attorneys) with the opportunity to ensure that veterans of America's wars receive the benefits which they are entitled to as a matter of law and service. The program has since spread to 15 other colleges and universities throughout Virginia, and Senator Mark Warner is trying to extend it further. [10] Other clinics include Appellate and Supreme Court Clinic, Domestic Violence Clinic, Elder Law Clinic, Federal Tax Clinic, Innocence Project Clinic, Special Education Advocacy Clinic, and Virginia Coastal Policy Clinic.

The William & Mary Law Review consistently ranks among the best twenty in circulation and citation of law reviews. The Bill of Rights Journal, Environmental Law and Policy Review, and Journal of Women and the Law also consistently rank among the best ten within their respective fields constitutional law, environmental law, and gender, sexuality and family law. The Business Law Review was established in 2011.

The McGlothlin Courtroom at the School is home to the prize-winning Center for Legal and Court Technology, a joint program of the School and the National Center for State Courts. The mission of the Project is to use technology to improve the administration of justice and the legal systems of the world.

Created in 2005 as a joint venture of the National Center for State Courts and the Law School, the Election Law Program was intended to provide practical assistance to state court judges in the United States who are called upon to resolve difficult election law disputes. It has since been expanded to include a vibrant student Election Law Program. The Program annually hosts an election law conference featuring the top attorneys in the field, including White House Counsel Bob Bauer and Republican strategist Ben Ginsburg, and each semester it enables outstanding election-law professionals, such as former FEC Chairman Michael Toner, to teach courses in the School.

The George Wythe Society of Citizen Lawyers is a civic leadership program, formed in the fall of 2005, to recognize and encourage community service and civic participation by members of the student body.

The Human Rights and National Security Law Program focuses on the interplay between national defense and the protection of civil rights. The Program's Distinguished Lecture Series and co-sponsored symposia bring leading experts to campus each semester to foster discussion and debate about on-going and emerging issues.

The Program in Comparative Legal Studies and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding plays a major role in facilitating international internships for students in as many as 15 countries each summer.

The Institute of Bill of Rights Law engages in study of the Bill of Rights and sponsors a variety of lectures, conferences, and publications to examine important Constitutional issues.

The William & Mary Property Rights Project encourages scholarly study of the role that property rights play in society. The Project's annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference explores recent developments in areas such as takings litigation and takings law.

Larry W. Lockwood, Jr. (Law 1995), Youngest person admitted to Million/Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, obtained largest FELA verdict for a single FELA plaintiff in the 100 years since the enactment of the Federal Employer's Liability Act ($12 million) nine months after graduation[17] followed by a record Maryland Verdict,[18] and several other verdicts in cutting edge injury cases.[19]

James Murray Mason (Law 1820), member of the U.S. House of Representatives ((1837–1839); United States Senator from Virginia (1847–1861)[20]

Haldane Robert Mayer (Law 1971), judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (1987–present; chief judge of the Federal Circuit, 1997–2004)[21]

Tommy Miller (Law 1973), magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (1987; announced his retirement in 2014)[22]

Doug Miller (Law 1995), magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (2009-present )[citation needed]

Henry St. George Tucker (William & Mary 1798, Law 1801), professor of law at William & Mary (1801–1804), justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia (1824–1831), remembered for editing the American edition of Blackstone's Commentaries.[25]